The Rules
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Dylan Fic: Introducing Jack to his parents hadn't quite gone the way Ianto had hoped...


**Title: **The Rules  
**Fandom: **Torchwood  
**Pairing: **Jack/Ianto  
**Rating: **FRT  
**Summary: **Introducing Jack to his parents hadn't quite gone the way Ianto had hoped...

1 - First Date  
2 - Sleepover  
3 - Bathroom Space  
4 - The Naughty Couch  
5 - Decent Proposal  
6 - I Now Pronounce You...  
7 - Second Thoughts  
8 - Getting In Shape  
9 - Enjoying the Simple Things  
10 - Dalek Invasion  
11 - What Makes A Family  
12 - Opening Night

**Author's note: **This is AU and the 13th installment of this series. It takes place between Sleepover and Bathroom Space.  
I just realised that I needed to introduce Ianto's family before the Civil Partnership.

x

His mam studied Jack before nodding tensely. "Very well," she muttered. "Jack, you and Dylan can sleep in Ianto's old room. Ianto, the couch is all yours."

Ianto groaned, he should have known this would happen. "But mam…"

She turned to him with a steely gaze. "No buts, young man. You know the rules." She looked back at Jack, offering him a smile. "Nice to meet you, Jack. If you'll excuse me, I have a meal to prepare."

Without another word she turned and headed into the kitchen, leaving her son and his boyfriend alone in the hallway.

"I thought you said she's be okay with you bringing home a man," Jack whispered, helping Ianto take the luggage upstairs.

"She doesn't care that you're a man," Ianto assured him. "The rules are for both me and Cadi. As long as we're under this roof, we're not allowed to sleep in the same bed as our partners until we're married." He shrugged his shoulders, "It's old fashioned, I know, but…"

Jack placed a finger on his lips, silencing his explanations. "It's only for one night," he reasoned, kissing Ianto softly. "It can't be that bad."

x

How his mam expected a grown man in his thirties to sleep comfortably on a two seater couch, Ianto had no idea. Instead he had settled on the floor; although he had long since given up the idea of sleeping.

Soft footsteps sounded on the stairs and the living room door opened a little. "Ianto?" Jack's voice whispered through the darkness.

"Hey," he replied, moving to the side as Jack tried to manoeuvre through the darkness; the only light coming from the luminous digits on the video player. "Couldn't sleep either?" Ianto murmured as Jack curled into his side.

Over the past four months, they had discovered that Jack liked to sleep on his side, half of his body wrapped around Ianto, with his head resting on the lawyer's chest, while Ianto buried the fingers of his left hand in Jack's hair. Now they fell in to that pattern automatically.

Jack remained silent as he closed his eyes and let the beating of Ianto's hear lull him into a peaceful sleep.

x

Cadi had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. Birds chirping outside her bedroom window had woken her up and, realising she wasn't going to get back to sleep, she had headed downstairs, intending to watch the catch up for last night's Big Brother.

She got a shock when she pushed the living room door open, a bag of popcorn in one hand, a bottle of Pepsi in the other, and found her very own Big Brother sleeping on the floor with his arms wrapped tightly around his boyfriend.

The fourteen year old knew she shouldn't stay there, she should give them privacy, but she couldn't help staring; mainly at Jack. The tall man was _gorgeous_, there was no denying it. The way his white T-shirt pulled tight over his broad shoulders and accentuated his natural tanned skin was… She shook her head, chuckling and reminding herself that she was eyeing up Ianto's boyfriend.

Quietly, she crossed the room and pulled a small cupboard open, withdrawing her favourite pink digital camera. Ianto had bought her it on her thirteenth birthday and she had been snapping photos at every opportunity since.

Neither man moved as Cadi took their picture, both were in such in a deep sleep that they didn't even sense her presence.

Smiling to herself, Cadi silently placed the camera back and left the room, closing the door behind her; she'd watch Big Brother later.

x

The tension had been building in the house all morning, ever since Glenys had walked in on Jack and Ianto cuddling on the floor of the living room.

Thankfully, Dylan was oblivious to the atmosphere in the house; mainly thanks to Cadi who kept him entertained with her stuffed animals and tales of dinosaurs hiding in the nearby woods.

At quarter past eleven Ianto snapped, Jack was sitting in the living room with his boyfriend's father, swapping stories about the RAF, while Ianto helped Glenys with preparing the dinner.

"We didn't disobey you," he stated, hoping to keep his tone conversationally. "All we were doing is sleeping."

Glenys remained silent, roughly cutting up a carrot before placing the knife down with a bang. "After I specifically told you he was to sleep upstairs."

Ianto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down; Dylan was upstairs and Ianto didn't want him to hear what was being said. "Didn't it occur to you that we _can't _sleep when we're not together? We've been staying at each other's places for four months now, mam. We're used to sleeping in the same bed."

"You know the rules…"

"I'm thirty-one, mam. I'm a grown man. We shouldn't have to…"

Glenys took a few steps closer to her son, meeting his angry gaze with her own. "As long as your under this roof, you'll do as you're told. What if Cadi had seen?"

His eyes widened and he took a step back. "I don't believe… You…" Ianto shook his head, unable to find the words to describe what he was feeling right then. He had told Jack his parents wouldn't be bothered if he brought home a man, they hadn't been the few times he'd done it in the past, but yet here his mam was, practically accusing him of corrupting his younger sister.

"All she would have seen was two people who care about each other, sleeping together," he eventually replied, desperately attempting to keep his voice as low and even as possible. "We weren't having sex. How is her seeing us any different from you and da?"

"I don't want her getting any ideas," Glenys replied dismissively, pulling the refrigerator open and busying herself with looking for something or other. "God knows, someone in this family should give me grandchildren."

"Grandchildren?" Ianto practically screamed. "Do I need to point out that there's a very real three year old sitting on Cadi's bed playing right now? You've barely spoken three words to Dylan since we got here. Did it ever occur to you that in a few years time _he _could be calling you 'Nan'? Or we could have another child?"

Both adults fell silent when the door burst open and Dylan ran in, Cadi hot on his heels, making dinosaur noises. "Yan-Toe!" he cried, spotting the Welsh lawyer. "Cadisaurous is after me!"

Ianto grinned and picked Dylan up, putting him on his back and opening the back door. "Let's see if we can out run it," he replied, jogging into the garden and ducking behind a tree.

x

Jack shivered as he stepped out of the house, looking across the large lawn towards the tree line at the bottom which lead to the forest beyond. The sun had long since gone down and the rest of the family was already asleep. Except for Ianto, who was sitting at the bottom of the garden, leaning back against the tree with his eyes closed.

"Hey," Jack whispered, crossing the lawn and sitting down next to Ianto.

The other man's eyes flickered open and he gave Jack a tired smile. "I want to go home," he whispered, resting his head on his partner's shoulder.

Wrapping his arm around Ianto, Jack pressed a kiss against the top of his head. "We can leave in the morning, if you want."

Ianto turned and buried his face in Jack's shoulder, breathing in the other man's scent and allowing it to comfort him. "I… I thought she'd be okay with this," he admitted quietly.

Jack put his chin under Ianto's chin and tilted his head back. "Be fair, Ianto," he whispered, pressing their lips together softly, "she didn't know you even _had _a boyfriend until this afternoon. I'm sure she's just shocked and needs some time to come to terms with this."

They fell silent for a while, Jack running his hand up and down Ianto's back soothingly as the other man listened to Jack's steady heartbeat.

When the first drops of rain hit their faces, they gasped in surprise and simultaneously glared up at the sky. "Come on," Jack instructed, getting to his feet and pulling Ianto up as well. "Dylan insisted on sleeping with Cadisaurous so it's just you and me."

Ianto pulled his arm out Jack's grip, shaking his head. "Jack, I don't think that's…"

Jack placed a finger over Ianto's lips, quickly silencing him. Their eyes met and he spoke, "You said it yourself, we're just two people who care about each other. There's nothing wrong with that."

x

When Ianto woke up around eight the next morning he woke to an empty bed and cold sheets. Frowning he got up, pulling on the clothes he had been wearing the previous day; he'd shower and change when he was awake enough to fully function.

Dylan was still asleep in Cadi's bed and Ianto wondered why he could sleep in when they were at someone else's house, but at home he was up at the crack of dawn.

The sight that met him when he arrived in the kitchen made him wonder if he was more than half asleep.

His mam was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of tea cradled in her hands as she conversed with the person sat opposite her. What made this even more surprising was that the person she was talking to was Jack.

"What did you say you do?" Glenys asked, taking a sip of the steaming liquid. "You're not another one of those lawyers, are you?" she grimaced at the thought.

Jack chuckled and took a drink of his own beverage, which Ianto knew would be extra strong black coffee – he vaguely wondered if Jack thought it was as good as his own. "No, ma'am," he assured her. "I'm a police officer."

Glenys breathed a sigh of relief. "You know, between you and me, we were always a little upset that Ianto chose to go to law school. Dafydd wanted him to take over the family business, you see…"

Ianto rolled his eyes as he listened to their conversation. His turning down running the tailors had been a sore subject with the Jones', until Ianto had produced his first payslip, proving how much more money he could make as a lawyer.

Dafydd mimicked Ianto's actions, rolling his eyes at his wife as he got up from the table and moved over the sink. "He's happy as a lawyer, Glenys. Leave the poor boy alone."

He turned his head and winked at his son before Ianto slipped from the kitchen, leaving Jack to talk with his parents some more. Ianto grinned and mouthed, 'thank you' at his father; at least some one was able to talk some sense into his mam.

The End


End file.
